Woodworker's Website

TV Stand page 3

One reason I don't post a project on my website until it is finished is I often fine where I would have done something different. This is one of those times. Before constructing the face frame I should have decided on the door hinges. I didn't think about the door hinges until I made the doors and by then it was too late and I made things much harder on myself. I wanted to use Soss invisible hinges. To install these hinges you either need a router or a drill and hand chisels. Using the router and a template would be the best option. By the time I came to this conclusion, I had already glue the case and face frame together. The design of the face frame didn't leave enough room to use a router to install the hinges. Even using a drill and chisels would have been difficult. I didn't want to use a hammer with the chisels and put stress on the joints. The method I ended up using was a drill and a Dremel tool. I'll explain how I did this in detail under the door instructions.

If I were to do this over, I would decided on the hinges first and install the hinges before assembling and attaching the face frame to the case.

In the drawing on the first page with the angle measurements, the front two side pieces that connect with the face frame are also cut at an angle (127.8 deg). For the face frame to be flush with the front, the two side pieces of the face frame must also be cut at an angle. Again I just divided this angle in half and used my angle gauge to set up my table saw blade. I cut a slot for the splines the same way as before.

If took me a while to decide on how to secure the face frame. As I mentioned before I received this idea from re-assembling my parents TV stand. Once thing I was surprise to notice when I disassembled theirs, was how little glue was used. I believe their TV cabinet was from Ethan Allen.

I contemplated using a tenon joint, and then I settled on dowels. After some more thinking, I ended up using pocket holes so I wouldn't have to use glue and it would allow for wood movement.

Since the rails of the frame are cut at an angle I was worried that the recommended screws, 1-1/4”, would be too long so I first tried the pocket hole in some scrap wood.

I cut, marked and laid out the pieces.

I cut the pocket holes and assembled the pieces. Don't forget the pocket holes go on the back side. The nice wood is face down.

Dry fit test. In the photo below you'll notice I have two additional boards (19-1/4” X 1-1/2”) cut at a different angle (110.3 deg) for the back. They have also been cut for sp lines.